The Discovery of the Haara Archipelago
The Discovery of the Haara Archipelago is the name given to a section of the log of Lionel Smith, the leader of the expedition that discovered the Haara Archipelago. It details the expedition, discovery of the islands, the exploration, and the aftermath. Publishers were eager to get a story for the discovery, and Lionel was the first person they went to. He was happy to have the log published, under the title of The Discovery of the Haara Archipelago. The story is included below. Left: The front cover of the log. The sketch is Lionel's rough depiction of the layout of the Archipelago. May 16th, 2008 Today, I was lucky enough to get funding for another expedition into the unknown. The preparation begins tomorrow. I've called my colleagues from previous expeditions, and they are all eager to join, as well as being able to. Like with my previous expeditions, I've decided to make a log on it, and this is my first entry. Now I'm going to pack. I've already decided on exploring an area of the Pacific Ocean west of North America, where I hope to find an island, perhaps something exciting. May 19th, 2008 A lot of the preparations have been made. We should be flying in a couple of days, but until then I'm writing up my log and checking I've got everything. I'd hate for this expedition to go wrong because I forgot something... I just have to hope the others don't make that mistake. May 21st, 2008 ﻿We were going to flying today, but there's been a horrible storm and it was called off. We're going by private jet, and the pilot, one of my colleagues, wasn't happy to risk the plane and our lives. Hopefully we can leave tomorrow, but at least I've got another chance to double-check my equipment. May 22nd, 2008 ﻿We were delayed again by the storm, but by late afternoon it had travelled on, meaning we should be able to fly tomorrow. All my equipment is working. May 26th, 2008 ﻿Today we are finally leaving. The last few days after the storm, one of my colleagues has been ill, and so we've been delayed further. It was a relief to finally get off the ground. The plane took off at about eleven am, and by around six-thirty, we were flying over America. We were going to be making a stop for fuel and rest at a small town by the western coast, that had been warned of our arrival. The runway was clear, and we landed without trouble. By eight, we were each in a cosy hotel room, where we're staying for the night. Its out over the ocean tomorrow, where we hope to find a new island, or island chain. May 27th, 2008 ﻿We were up for breakfast at five am this morning, as we were flying into the unknown and didn't want to waste precious light. We were ready in the plane at seven. We'd decided to search until one, which would give us enough time to get back before it went dark. If we didn't travel as far as expected, we would search longer. The first day of our search was fruitless. We travelled across open sea, and looped back on ourselves many times, but didn't find an island. When we got back, we were dispirited, but ready to try again tomorrow, when I hope we'll have more luck. Now, I'm back in the hotel room. May 31st, 2008 ﻿The last few days have been just as pointless as the first. We've found nothing that hasn't been mapped. Today, we went out at nine, being so depressed we didn't leave quite so early. We came back at seven, still without any exciting news. We're all hoping the first of June will bring something special. June 2nd, 2008 ﻿It didn't. The search was as pointless as before. Today we set out at ten, becoming more and more depressed. I thought I'd wasted the funds. But, at three pm, we finally found what we were looking for. An island. But not just an island - an island chain. Three of them, that looked like they could once have been one strip of land. Excited as we were, it was too late to go exploring now. It would have to wait until tomorrow, but we all returned in better spirits. June 3rd, 2008 We woke up early, only to find a storm raging through the town. There would be no flying in it, and even though it left at midday, it continued out to sea, and would get in our way to the island chain. We would have to wait, and so spent the day exploring the little town, which we realised we didn't know much about. June 4th, 2008 Today we were able to get out to the island chain again. Unfortunately, we got caught in a draft and missed the islands first time - we had to double back to reach them and by then it was already eleven. I said we could afford to land for a while. The largest island was half forest and half plains, by the looks of things. Unfortunately, the plains were dotted with hills, so landing would be tricky. The second island was fringed with forest, with a grassy prairie in the middle. The grass had grown to about shoulder-height, and we didn't want to land their either. The third island was forest at one end, but desert for the rest. We decided to land on the desert. The landing at first went without a hitch, until we made a small mistake and drove the plane into a sand dune. The sand sprayed over the nose of the plane, but we were all OK. Until we found out our crash had disturbed something. When we saw the creatures, we were shocked. It was a Velociraptor, or at least similar. I remembered those stories - about lost worlds and recreating dinosaurs. We really had stumbled upon one. But this was no time to be amazed. They were already leaping at the window, and slashing at it with their sickle claws. Already the window was spiderwebbed with cracks, and any minute it would shatter. "Move!" I yelled. Everyone scrambled to the door, and we pushed it open. We all managed to climb out before the raptors noticed us, but then they were after us again. With every bound, they got closer, until we feel their hot breath. "Scatter!" I heard someone cry, and we did. The raptors were taken momentarily by surprise, but were after us again before long. Now, however, we each only had one or two raptors after us. I tried to lead mine back to the plane. As I reached the door, the leaped at me, and I ducked. They both ended up in the plane, and I slammed the door shut. There were furious crashings from inside, but I raced off to help the others. There was a shatter, and I realised the raptors must have smashed a window in a plane to get out. I heard the rhythmic thumping of their footsteps behind me and knew I was right. I had no idea how we were going to survive this one. However, as they came closer, I thought of one idea. There were some small firearms in the plane - if I could only get in and find them, assuming they hadn't been trashed by the raptors, then we might be able to scare them off. But the raptors were close, and they were between me and the plane. Besides, the door was closed and would take time to open. Unless... Quickly, I spun round, ducking low and running between the raptors. I headed for the plane, and luck was on my side. The main window was smashed. This was also the largest, and I got in easily. I picked up a gun and was halfway through loading it, when I saw the barrel had been bent to an improbable angle. Desperate, I checked the next one. The trigger had snapped off. But the third one was lucky. It hadn't been damaged beyond use, and I loaded it up. Just as the raptors entered the plane, also through the front window. I opened fire, wildly shooting without really aiming. I got lucky, and hit one in the arm. It screeched loudly, before they both backed out of the plane. I followed, waving the gun and firing the occasional warning shot into the air. It seemed to scare them off, for now at least. Now that we were stuck on the island until someone raised the alarm and a rescue team was sent out, we looked for shelter. Earlier we had tried to contact the mainland, but none of us got any signal. Eventually we found a low, rocky area to shelter in, and so we did. We had food rations and blankets from the plane, and so settled down the night - we had used up a lot of time trekking. Now we are settling down to rest. June 5th, 2008 ﻿'3 a.m.' We all woke up with a shock this morning. Cold water was slopping over us, right up to our faces! (as we were lying down). We scrambled to our feet as quickly as possible without slipping on the wet rocks beneath our feet. I hurriedly collected my log, but most of it had smudged already, and would have to be rewritten as accurately as possible. With water now reaching halfway up our thighs, we struggled to get our bearings. A small island had appeared in the west, and the desert island, which we had christened Sormi, still lay to the east. But how had we ended up in the sea? Resolving to work this out later, I suggested we head for the island, as it had less chance of being populated by dinosaurs. Unfortunately, before long we were forced to swim as the water got deeper, and still the island seemed to be no closer. Eventually we made it. And as I surveyed our surroundings, I realised what had happened. We had never moved. Where we had rested was the lowpoint of Sormi. When the tide came in, it cut of the main body, the higher point on the other side forming the island we were on. The lowpoint had flooded. "What a great way to start the day," one of my team remarked, before we all settled down for some more rest. We wasted a lot of the next day waiting for the tide to go in. When it was low enough, we crossed and found a safe place to shelter for the night. June 7th, 2008 We had spent a lot of the previous day resting, and checking provisions. I had rewritten my log as best as possible, but as we learnt from checking, a lot of our other provisions had been ruined or swept away by the tide. We still had some canned food, a rifle, my log and pencils, spare ammunition, and a bottle of water, along with some of our blankets. Today, we decided to move out. I took the rifle, and we stepped warily onto the desert. See Also *﻿Haara Archipelago *Incultaraptor Category:Haara Archipelago Category:Fanfiction Category:Original Story